Timberwolves coach Chris Finch calls lack of Thunder off-ball fouls 'interesting'
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch calls lack of Thunder off-ball fouls 'interesting'
The longer an NBA playoff series, the more tired both squads are of each other. After four games, you can feel the detest between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. That comes with the high stakes of the Western Conference Finals with an NBA Finals trip on the line.
After the Thunder won a 128-126 Game 4 thriller over the Timberwolves, everything is in their favor to advance with a 3-1 series lead. With its back against the wall, Minnesota has smartly let it be known it thinks OKC's league-best defense may be getting away with more fouls than being called.
In the most obvious prediction, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch gave the Thunder a backhanded compliment for their lockdown defense on Anthony Edwards in Game 4. He was quiet with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting in a gutpunch loss that plummets their odds of an all-time upset.
"We've seen this level of physicality before. Not only from OKC but throughout the playoffs. We have that in us but I think we could be a little bit more physical ourselves. I think off-ball, they were super handsy. I saw a lot of off-ball contact. Their off-ball defense was largely focused on Ant. Try to jam him up and keep him from being able to get the ball in clean space," Finch said. "I find it also a little interesting that throughout the entire series, I can't remember an off-ball foul that's been called after four games, which is kinda unique. That just speaks volumes to the credit of their off-ball defense."
While not as blunt as his infamous regular-season rant where he said you can't defend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder get away with fouling, Finch has subtly sent out a alarm for the Game 5 officiating crew to maybe call more fouls on OKC and throw it off its rhyhtm with foul trouble to important players and more free-throw trips.
We'll see if Finch gets his wish. For now, the Thunder must control what they can control. All they ask for is a consistent whistle on both sides. If they get that, there's a good chance they close out the Western Conference Finals at home and clinch their first NBA Finals berth since 2012 with a sandwich sweep.
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